Bedtime Story
by Twitz
Summary: “A bedtime story again?” Jesse pouted at his six-year old daughter. “Can you tell me the story about the little girl on your drawings?” His daughter asked him. He couldn’t refuse those puppy eyes of her, so even if he cringed a little, he agreed anyway.


**Disclaimer: I don't own BTT. Ms. Katherine Paterson owns it - forever!**

Jess is thirty years old and has a six-year old daughter named Lisa (I know, Lisa was the name of David Paterson's best friend.)

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"A bedtime story again?" Jesse pouted at his six-year old daughter, Lisa.

The little girl smiled at him sleepily and nodded.

"Oh alright. Which one do you like? Cinderella? Sleeping beauty? Beauty and the Beast?" He suggested to her. Even if he wasn't a good storyteller, his daughter always wanted him to tell her stories.

Lisa thought for a while and decided on something.

Her eyes sparkled. "Can you tell me a new one? Can you tell me the story about the little girl on your drawings?" His daughter asked him. He couldn't refuse those puppy eyes of her, so even if he cringed a little, he agreed anyway.

"Hmm… Okay then."

Lisa closed her eyes, something she always did whenever Jesse would tell bedtime stories to her before she fell asleep. Jesse looked at the little angel. Lisa got her haircut early that morning with her mom. When they got back, Jesse was taken aback a little at the style of Lisa's hair. It was just like Leslie's boyish cut. Her honey blond hair looked like an exact replica's of his late friend.

He stroked his daughter's hair gently and kissed her forehead. He then inhaled some air.

"Once upon a time, there lived a boy and a girl. The boy had a large family – he had four sisters," Lisa smiled. _Daddy has four sisters!_

"One day, while his daddy told him to do his chores, he met a girl, wait, actually, he wasn't that sure if the person was a girl or boy since the person had short, boyish hair," with this, Lisa gave him a questioning look and thought to herself if her haircut suited her or not. Jess noticed this and gave her an encouraging smile, "Don't worry honey, your new haircut is perfect." He smiled at her.

"Okay, where was I? Oh. This boy and girl then became classmates. At first, the boy didn't like the girl, and hated her more when she beat him in a race. On his way home, he found out that they were neighbors. This annoyed him more."

"The next day after class, even if he was reluctant, he agreed to go with her to the forest close to their houses. There they found an old, abandoned rope. They decided to swing to the next side using it. There the boy also discovered how much a storyteller the girl was,"

"Was the girl a much better storyteller than you?" Lisa asked.

"Yes." Jess laughed. "Can I continue now?"

"Sorry daddy." Lisa smiled.

"Okay. So the girl was a very good storyteller, and the boy eventually became friends with her. Ever since that day, they always went to that forest and played with each other. The girl named the forest 'Terabithia'. The boy and girl would fight with imaginary creatures and defend their castle,"

Her eyes became wide. "A castle?!"

"Actually dear, it was just a treehouse."

"Oh. Cool!"

"Okay, okay. Hmm... The boy and girl got very close to each other and -"

"Ooh! I know, I know! The boy had a crush on the girl, did he?!"

Jess gulped. _Can my daughter read minds or somethin'?_ He asked himself. "Maybe. Maybe he did." He smiled at her.

"I knew it!" Lisa said triumphantly.

Jess faked a frown, "Maybe you should just go to bed if you keep on interrupting daddy." He added a fake pout.

"Sorryyyy." The little girl apologized.

Jess smiled weakly at his daughter. He wasn't sure if he could continue on with the story, but he didn't want to make his daughter sad either. This was the first time she didn't fall asleep while he was telling her a story. She really liked his story this time.

He looked first at the starry night sky outside the window which looked alot like the first time they had spent a night on the treehouse because they were stranded due to a heavy rain. He sighed and decided to continue with the story.

"One day, the boy's teacher asked him if he wanted to go with her on a museum trip. And since this boy loved to draw, he agreed. On the way back, he noticed that there were police cars near the girl's house..."

He stopped there. For the first time in twenty years, he felt the pain again.

"Daddy? Are you crying?" Lisa asked. Her face was full of worry.

"He got confused with why there were police cars, but he just went home. As he got inside, his daddy told him that his friend... his daddy told him that... Oh God."

"Daddy?"

"His daddy told him that his friend died... She drowned." He finally said.

Lisa crawled to him and hugged him. Jess wasn't exactly crying too much, some tears just stained his collar which Lisa saw.

"It's okay to cry daddy. Even though Matty told me at school that boys shouldn't cry, don't worry, I won't tell him about you."

Jess sniffled and faced his daughter. "Really? Thank you sweetie." He kissed her forehead.

He told her that he was already sleepy and that it was past her bed time and was about to turn off the lights when,

"Daddy?" She called out.

"Yes honey?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?"

Lisa bit her lip, not sure if she was going to ask or not.

"What happened to the boy in your story?"

Jess didn't bother on turning around to continue talking to her. "Well honey, like what your girls do, the boy cried hard. Day and night. He blamed himself for her death. This went on for years, and maybe until now. But he knew that the girl wouldn't want to make him feel guilty, so he decided that he would live for her and make her proud with his drawings."

She found it kind of hard to understand, and thought of the thing that adults usually said to children._ You'll understand it someday when you're a grown up._

Jess was about to close the door when she called out for the second time.

"Yes dear?"

"Was that boy... you?"

Jess sighed, and eventually smiled.

"Yes dear."

Lisa was now contented and said good night to her daddy. Maybe someday, she would understand the story much better.

-

**_The End_**

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Sorry if it's bit short, a plot bunny bit me! Anyway, reviews would be nice! ^^.


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